rae05

I'm wondering about the customs/duties coming into Canada. I bought my nursery bedding set through the States but I got slapped with an extra $40 charge at my door that I wasn't expecting.

I want to order a power cord for my comp through Hong Kong. Does anyone have any idea how the customs/duties work and how much I'd get charged to get a $24.03 item brought in from Hong Kong?

sam's mum

I don't think it matters where it's coming from. I think the % you have to pay also depends where you are. Does the $24.03 include postage, because you don't have to pay import tax for items worth $20 or less x

Canadian Taxes

Just about everything individuals import into Canada is subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) of five percent. The GST is calculated after customs duties have been applied.

You will also have to pay the applicable Canadian Provincial Sales Tax (PST) or Quebec Sales Tax (QST). The provincial retail sales tax rates vary from province to province, as do the goods and services to which the tax is applied and the way the tax is applied.

In Canadian provinces with a Harmonized Sales Tax (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador), you'll be charged a flat 13 percent, rather than separate GST and PST.

You don't have to pay duties and taxes if your mail item is:

* a gift worth $60 or less; or

* worth $20 or less.

Sarahkka

To further confuse the issue, I have ordered educational items from the States for various programs I have written, and if they were made in the States, my duty was way less. I just had to pay tax. If the items had been imported into the States, then sold and shipped to me, I would have had to pay full duty, too.
I don't know if a power cord counts as educational or not.
You could try just calling Customs.
You'll probably be on hold for awhile, but it might save you some $$?

rae05

Thanks Yeah the 24 dollars included shipping! So no worries for me this time. Good to know though for future e-bay transactions so I don't have to sweat it out waiting for my items to get here hah

sam's mum

It's so annoying ordering from abroad where things are cheaper only to end up paying even more when it gets there! x

rae05

I know. Its annoying waiting for a paypal order to go through as well. I don't know why it needs to take so long.

ryder

Ask the seller to mark it gift... as long as there is no store or company name, then it is ok.

I havent bought anything off ebay for awhile so I dont remember about customs, I alwayas did make sure that the item I got was a really awesome deal though to offset the customs charges.

I always found things that came from the states were more to import though, so I usually bought from the UK or Australia.